22:00 Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Con)

Known as the wee county, Clackmannanshire is the smallest council area in Scotland, situated in the south-western corner of my constituency. It is tucked away beneath the Ochil hills, flanked by Stirling to the west, Kinross-shire to the east and the River Forth to the south. Despite being home to successful companies such as Diageo, United Glass, the William Brothers Brewing Company and innumerable small and medium-sized enterprises, Clacks is a former industrial and mining community and still has some of the most deprived areas in our country. Meanwhile, geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy in its relative infancy in the United Kingdom, with opportunities still being identified and explored, and it is struggling to enter the mainstream of energy provision in the United Kingdom.

Energy is important. It heats our homes, cooks our meals and runs the appliances, amenities and communications devices without which our tablets, laptops and businesses could not function. In short, it impacts on every aspect of 21st-century life. The 19th and 20th-century sources of energy have long since ceased to be seen as the future. Renewable energy sources are an ever increasing part of the suite of energy sources, and Scotland has been at the forefront of such innovations, with wind and sea power particularly prevalent in its contribution. I wholeheartedly support those steps and hope that the UK will continue to be at the forefront of such renewable energy options—not just wind and sea but others too, such as geothermal.

We should consider the environmental impact, or relative lack thereof, of geothermal energy. It does not require combustion, unlike traditional energy plants, so it emits very low levels of greenhouse gases. It also eliminates the mining and transportation processes involved in fossil fuel energy generation. Finally, it takes up very little surface land, putting it among the smallest footprint per kilowatt of any power generation technology, including coal, nuclear and other renewables.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this very important and interesting debate. He is speaking specifically about the size of these developments, but, as he mentioned wind energy earlier, does he accept that there is concern in my Moray constituency, as well as in many parts of Scotland and, indeed, of the UK, that large-scale windfarms are scarring our communities? Indeed, Moray has reached saturation point for the number of wind turbines and windfarms we can have, and we should really be looking at smaller methods of renewable energy.

There is no law stopping the UK Government investing directly in Scottish local authorities, least of all the devolution settlement, the various Scotland Acts or the Smith commission, especially when the right opportunity arises. This is the right opportunity—an opportunity to invest in and improve our renewable energy sector; an opportunity to lower our carbon footprint; an opportunity to tackle fuel poverty; and an opportunity to bring jobs, prospects and prosperity to one of the most deprived areas of Scotland. I urge the UK Government to grasp this opportunity and to let the people of Clackmannanshire lead the rest of Scotland and the United Kingdom in growing geothermal energy.

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22:19 The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry)

I am delighted to be able to talk more about the Clackmannanshire geothermal energy project, which, as my hon. Friend rightly set out, looks to use a local resource from the legacy of decades of mining in a way that helps us to meet our renewable energy targets, and create jobs and innovation for the future. My hon. Friend made reference to our renewable energy successes. We are right, collectively across the UK, to be proud of them. Thanks to investment in innovation by UK taxpayers, working together north and south of the border, and east and west we are very much on target to achieve 30% energy supply from renewables by 2020. In fact, it looks as if we will go substantively beyond that. Scotland with its beauty—my hon. Friend alluded to it; his speech was a wonderful travel advert for his constituency—natural geographic advantages and engineering expertise has very much been in the forefront of that.

That brings me to the role of geothermal energy, which is a critical part of the renewable energy resource. It can be used in several ways, for example heat networks. The UK Government have set aside over £300 million to invest in district heat networks over the next few years. They are a really important way of bringing it forward. Deep geothermal power is another opportunity to create heat and generate power, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr) discussed.

We are committed to supporting the project. We see opportunities for high-quality, cost-effective heating, for the creation of renewable energy and for the provision of many other benefits to the area. I am delighted that my hon. Friend has once again raised this opportunity and demonstrated the passion and commitment with which he and his constituents support it. It was encouraging to hear that other local businesses are already coming forward wanting to be part of it.

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